{"id":576,"date":"2016-08-05T12:32:21","date_gmt":"2016-08-05T12:32:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/?p=576"},"modified":"2016-08-05T21:31:39","modified_gmt":"2016-08-05T21:31:39","slug":"liverpool-football-club-transfer-rumour-round-up-august-5th-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andcouldheplay.com\/liverpool-football-club-transfer-rumour-round-up-august-5th-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool Football Club Transfer Rumour Round-Up: August 5th 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re now just eight days away from Liverpool\u2019s first game of the 2016-2017 Premier League season. The time when the preparatory period comes to a close and the serious stuff begins. So what kind of month has it been?<\/p>\n

J\u00fcrgen Klopp has bought seven players to date. Some of them, such as Man\u00e9 and Wijnaldum, are likely to be for the first XI and definitely for the first team squad. Others, like Grujic and Ragnar Klavan, are either players for the future or back-up players that may or may not be called upon as the season goes on.<\/p>\n

This time last week I was telling you how Klopp had said that he was probably done as far as his transfer activity was concerned, but I also said that that could change. Low and behold just a few days later and the manager confirmed that he could yet dip back in before the window closes.<\/p>\n

That statement caused relief for a number of Liverpool fans who are desperate for the club to sign another left-back and a defensive midfielder, but I\u2019m not convinced that their relief is going to be all that long-lasting. For starters, Klopp has shown no interest in getting in a left-back other than as cover for Moreno, with the manager also seemingly not at all bothered about having a defensive midfielder at all.<\/p>\n

Marquee Signings<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve been really interested to see how some Liverpool supporters are viewing this window as a disappointment. More than a few have suggested that our singings haven\u2019t been good enough and that this is another poor transfer window by the club.<\/p>\n

Sufficed to say I completely disagree. Ultimately the most important thing that a manager can do is to recognise the weaknesses in his squad and do the best that he can to mitigate them. Klopp has done exactly that, bringing in a new goalkeeper as a major priority and adding pace to a side that was criminally lacking in it last time around.<\/p>\n

\"Vlad1988

Vlad1988 \/ shutterstock.com<\/p><\/div>\n

He\u2019s also acknowledged that we had major defensive issues last season and so he\u2019s brought in the third best defender from the Bundesliga according to Bild and the captain of Estonia. It is Matip that I\u2019m most excited about and I\u2019m convinced that Liverpool supporters would be far more interested in if he\u2019d cost \u00a325 million.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure what a marquee signing is, to be perfectly honest. It\u2019s a term that is bandied about on a regular basis by people who are determined to belittle the club\u2019s work in the market, but what is it? Is it about the money spent? Are LFC fans less than impressed by Matip because we signed him on a free? If so that\u2019s ludicrous, given the number of excellent players who have moved between clubs having let their contracts run down. Both Michael Owen and Steve McManaman were decent players when they headed off to the Bernab\u00e9u, for example.<\/p>\n

Perhaps it\u2019s not about the money spent but is instead about the name, but even that comes with some qualifications. Had Sadio Man\u00e9 put in precisely the same performances that he had done last season in a Borussia Dortmund shirt, say, then Liverpool supporters would be on the streets celebrating his signing. Instead there\u2019s a sniffiness to the whole thing based around the fact that he played for Southampton.<\/p>\n

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📸 Not a great deal to tweet about so far, but here’s Sadio Mane in action… pic.twitter.com\/0S7lFw3tjr<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 31, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n